"which obtained a screenshot of a virtual meeting in which a U.S. flag "with altered red and white lines in the shape of a swastika" could be seen in the office of an Ohio Republican representative. In the same week, Politico exposed a Telegram group chat in which Young Republican leaders praised Hitler and joked about the Holocaust, and President Donald Trump announced plans for a privately funded "triumphal arch" that looks like an unbuilt Albert Speer design."
"knows a bit about history and current events, and has figured out how to make a melodramatic statement without stinting on fight scenes, chases, heel turns, and other elements that superhero fans expect. He also happens to be working in a genre that has seesawed between democratic and authoritarian tendencies ever since the first superhero, Superman, debuted in June 1938."
James Gunn's recent films and television work depict and critique authoritarian tendencies and extremist symbolism appearing in American politics and culture. Peacemaker season two imagines a U.S. government overrun by Nazis who openly idolize Adolf Hitler. Gunn's Superman reimagining casts Lex Luthor as a hybrid of high-profile tech magnates and the current president. Gunn blends melodrama, fight scenes, chases, and heel turns with historical and current-event awareness, using superhero genre expectations to deliver progressive, occasionally utopian critiques. His output emphasizes democratic values and aggressively criticizes authoritarianism while reaching mainstream studio audiences.
Read at Vulture
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